Author's Notes: This was originally going to be the planned "last" chapter of this drabble/oneshot series but it wasn't really Zucest. So there will be another one. I'm sorry for the long wait, and thank you to those who reviewed.

Zuko's eyes could not leave his sister's form. He waited patiently for their family physician to finish his diagnosis of Azula's mental and physical health.

"The princess has suffered a mental breakdown," the doctor informed him as he stood up from the ground where Azula sat. "The events of the passed few weeks have finally gotten to her. The guards even claim she talks to herself--but as if she's talking to someone who is not there."

"Who?" the Fire Lord questioned. Azula always seemed levelheaded, so to be told that she's gone insane was an odd feeling.

The man looked away, "Your mother, sir."

"What?" Zuko looked at his sister. "Do you know where she is?"

Azula did not answer. She didn't even acknowledge him.

"Your Majesty," the doctor added cautiously. "I think you should be advised that she shouldn't be kept here. She needs professional help--such as therapy; and to be looked after all day and night. This place is hardly suited for someone in her condition, addition to the fact that she's pregnant."

"She's what?" Zuko stared at the man before him with wide eyes.

"I wasn't aware Azula was in a relationship," Mai told him.

"It must've been after you and Ty Lee left her then," Zuko surmised.

"So what are you going to do?" she asked him.

She heard him sigh and then tell her, "I'm going to move her to a place she can get help. And as for the child--I'll take care of him. I'll raise him in her stead as if he was my own. I don't know...if she gets better then maybe I'll tell the kid the truth, but for now I think I'll stick with that decision."

"And what will I be? His mother?" Mai asked amusingly and lightly. She, however, didn't know how to feel about that.

He turned to face her, "Only if you want to be. Because if he knew who is mother was, he may want to see her and get to know her. I can't have Azula influencing him negatively."

She understood and smiled, "All right."

Someone was repeatedly telling Azula to calm down; it was bad for the baby. The princess would not listen, however. She refused to make their jobs any easier for them. She lost her honor, her father, and her crown. She lost to a Water Tribe peasant in a duel--and her pathetic brother ended up with the throne.

"Azula," a familiar voice called out to her firmly. She turned her head and glared at him. Her brother. He told the workers to leave them alone and they obeyed, swiftly leaving the room. The bastard, who took after their mother in so many ways--including abandoning their so-called family and loved ones. "Do you know where Mother is?"

She laughed maniacally until Zuko couldn't handle it anymore and demanded an answer from her. "No," she said bitterly. "I'm surprised she didn't tell you before she left."

"Azula..."

"Zuko," she retorted just as coldly. "What would you do if I were to kill myself now?"

"That won't happen," Zuko told her.

"Why don't you kill me?" she asked.

"No. That's too merciful for you," he explained. "Think of the child."

"What does it matter? I'm never going to see him once he is born. You'll take him away and turn him against me--his own mother," she bit out harshly. Then she started to scream and cry, cursing him.

Ty Lee would visit Mai and Zuko, leaving Kyoshi Island for a short amount of time. She would always be surprised to see how much her friends' little boy had grown since she last saw him. She wondered when they would have their second child, since she wanted to see them have a girl. Or at least a child that resembled Mai, since their first-born's features came much from his father's side. It would be great to see a mini-Mai walking around.

She realized Mai seemed different though. "Is everything all right with Zuko?" she asked, trying not to sound invasive. She knew Mai loved Zuko more than anything, but her demeanor was a bit off--even for her. Not to mention, her aura was...shaky. Mai smiled at her.

"Yeah sure--"

"Mama!" the little boy came running to her. Her smile brightened and she took him in her arms eagerly, her eyes lighting up. It was more than obvious that Mai simply loved and adored her son. Maybe being the Fire Lord's consort was getting to her. It was a difficult job after all, and Mai had expressed annoyance at her duties once.

Two years had passed since she last saw Azula. She wasn't lying when she claimed she idolized the girl--because she did. There were just things she could not approve of though, and things she could no longer stand by and watch the princess did. Deep in her heart, she prayed the princess would change and that the three of them would reconcile their lost friendship. She decided to pay Azula a visit.

They told her the Fire Lord was currently there and that she was forbidden to be there while he was visiting her. She smiled and reassured the woman that she was a friend of the Fire Lord and his sister and that he wouldn't mind. They did not budge, so she had to sneak her way through. It was odd that there were no guards standing in front of the door that held Azula confined.

Zuko had informed them that Azula was slowly but surely improving. Ty Lee quickly began to doubt him though when she heard Azula screaming. Against her better judgment, she eavesdropped on their conversation, curious to know what Zuko said to upset the princess so. She's never heard Azula cry before.

"Zuzu, did you ever love me?" she asked him pleadingly.

Ty Lee's heartbeat fastened.

"Did you even love me?"

Silence.

"Answer the damn question Zuko!" the princess yelled, startling Ty Lee.

"Of course, Azula."

"Oh?" the princess began bitterly. "Because you quickly threw me away when you got Mai. You and her, and the rest of the family, excluding father, are good for nothing bastards!"

"You still hold father in high regards?" Ty Lee heard Zuko question his sister, skeptically. "Do you even know he hasn't asked for you since he was imprisoned? You mean nothing to him!"

"Shut up..."

"He just used you, Azula. You were just a tool--someone he could show off. As long as you were useful, he endured your presence."

"Shut up!!" she screamed. "Shut up! Shut up!"

Ty Lee, and surely Zuko, realized what really bothered Azula after all--what caused her break down, wasn't because she lost; but because she felt she had nothing.

"Okay, I'm so sorry." Ty Lee dared to peek through the small window of the door and look inside. She saw Zuko walk closer to Azula and embrace her. He genuinely looked like he felt guilty and sorry.

It would have been a touching moment between brother and sister, if it weren't for the way Azula held onto Zuko. It was...possessive.

"You used me too you know," Azula told him bitterly. "I'm nothing to you but a toy. You betrayed me, then you took away my throne, and then you take my child from me!"

Ty Lee's eyes grew wide at the revelation of the child's maternity.

"Tell me, would you have betrayed me and left me if you knew I was with child?" Ty Lee heard Azula question. "You say I was nothing but a tool to Father--but what am I to you? Do you not keep me for your own amusement? Do you not keep me living to remind me of my humiliation? Do you not revel in the fact that I've finally lost and you've gotten everything you ever wanted?!"

"Azula--"

"What am I to you when you have the guards leave so you can take me on this bed?"

Ty Lee became confused, and wondered if she heard correctly. More importantly, did it mean what she thought it meant?

"Azula," Zuko called out. "Enough."

"That's why you won't kill me!"

Ty Lee squinted and realized that Azula had begun to cry, and Zuko's embrace became tighter. "Shhh...you're wrong. I'm not keeping you for my amusement."

Azula calmed herself after a while, and then asked, "So how is Mai treating my son?"

"Well," Zuko answered her.

Azula smirked. "Is she still sobbing over the fact that he's mine with you?"

Ty Lee turned around and flung her hands to her mouth to cover any noise she might have made. Everything was piecing itself together, and she realized that things between Azula, Mai, and herself could never be the same again.

A/N: This was actually supposed to be shorter, but I wanted you guys to know the beginning of things.